Tag Archives: Lawmakers
Corporate Welfare: Lawmakers pass controversial bill to give tax break to offshore wind developer
Lawmakers narrowly advanced fast-tracked legislation Friday that would give a Danish company a multimillion-dollar tax break for its offshore wind project, despite objections from Republicans who slammed it as “corporate welfare.” The bill would allow Ørsted, the company approved to build a 1,100-megawatt project 15 miles off the Atlantic City coastline, to keep federal tax credits that otherwise would return to ratepayers. The value of the credit would be $2.40 per year per ratepayer, by Ørsted’s estimate, but the company’s total potential savings is unclear. Critics questioned why legislators should give “a corporate bailout to a foreign company on the backs of New Jersey ratepayers,” as Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn (R-Monmouth) put it. >click to read< 09:25
No Offshore Wind: WV to work with VA on nuclear technology
Virginia lawmakers and West Virginia lawmakers are in talks on how to collaborate on expanding nuclear energy and innovating nuclear technology. Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced his new energy policy, which seeks to expand the state’s nuclear energy capabilities by constructing small modular nuclear reactors, also known as SMRs, to provide power. The state may work with its neighbor West Virginia on getting these reactors up and running. “These units can be built on old coal mining sites, and we already know we have the skilled machinists, engineers, welders and fabricators who can support the nuclear industry,” West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw. >click to read< 17:00
Lobster industry and lawmakers await court decision to determine legality of new restrictions
Maine and Massachusetts harvest more than 90% of the American lobsters sold in the U.S. and most lobstermen and New England lawmakers want to keep it that way. Over the past year, a dispute over new federal regulations on Maine’s lobster industry, intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale,,, Mike Sargent became the captain of his own boat at 15. The 29-year-old is worried, however, that if regulations adopted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2021 are ruled lawful by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, that more expensive and stricter regulations could follow. “There’s talks of ropeless fishing and so on, and those are astronomically expensive and quite frankly could bankrupt this industry at the stroke of a pen,” Sargent said. Massachusetts lobsterman Dave Casoni said that it would cost lobstermen between $500,000-$600,000 to make the switch to ropeless traps, and if passed Casoni believes it could bankrupt the industry. Video, >click to read< 09:16
Seafood industry visa fix in question after Coronavirus outbreak
With the aid of lawmakers, seafood businesses in Maryland, Virginia, Alaska and North Carolina last month won federal approval of an additional 35,000 visas for non-immigrant workers, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. Within days, the coronavirus pandemic began shutting down businesses, including restaurants and retail outlets the seafood industry supplies. Some seafood operations let employees go, while others have hired fewer people than they would in a more typical season. Jack Brooks, president of J.M. Clayton Seafood Co. in Cambridge, Maryland, explained that the seafood industry is a seasonal business and the coronavirus has hit the hardest during the industry’s prime time. >click to read< 13:16
New York, and Connecticut Lawmakers seeking $65 million to clean up Long Island Sound
With new legislation proposed to protect and restore the waters of the Long Island Sound, Connecticut and New York lawmakers are hoping to reverse the effects of decades of over-development and pollution. The Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act would combine two water quality and shore restoration programs to be funded at, respectively, $40 million and $25 million per year through 2020. Read the rest here 19:22
Fishermen, lawmakers blast Atlantic Coast drilling plan – We’re against it
Many New Jersey Shore-area fishermen and lawmakers oppose the Obama administration’s controversial new proposal to open an area off the Atlantic Coast to oil and gas drilling. The areas being mulled are located more than 50 miles off the coast of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, which they said is too close to the swift Gulf Stream current. “If there is any kind of spill it’ll carry it up here. We’re against it,” said Roy Diehl, director of the Belford Seafood Cooperative and member of the Garden State Seafood Association’s board of directors. Read the rest here 08:40
Alaska delegation seeks name change of Russian-water fish sold as “Alaskan pollock”
When you buy Alaska pollock at the store, there’s a nearly 40 percent chance the fish was caught in Russian waters, U.S. pollock producers say. “The problem that we’re facing is that pollock caught by the Russians is also being called Alaskan pollock, which is pollock that is of a more inferior quality,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “It’s causing confusion with our good, sustainably managed fishery and a fish that is of high quality.” Read the rest here 21:20
